LU konference
The recording of the seminar is available to anyone interested on YouTube.
The seminar’s theoretical narrative was interwoven with Tarjan’s personal career and life journey, making the experience more engaging and relatable for the audience. Introducing himself, Robert Tarjan said, “I like to think of myself as similar to Forrest Gump—he was in the right place at the right time, and so was I. I want to share how I got involved in the work I have been doing for a very long time and talk about some discoveries that didn’t appear out of thin air but required years of developing ideas.”
Robert Tarjan reflected on over five decades of research in algorithm design and data structures. He shared key milestones, from foundational breakthroughs like union-find and Fibonacci heaps to more recent developments, offering personal insights into the evolving landscape of theoretical computer science. The talk highlighted both the mathematical elegance and practical impact of data structures, weaving together history, technical depth, and anecdotes from a pioneering career.
On behalf of the University of Latvia, Vice-Rector for Research Guntars Kitenbergs welcomed the distinguished guest, expressing gratitude for Robert Tarjan’s inspiring talk and highlighting the support of the LU Foundation and patron Wulf Harder in making the event possible.
Wulf Harder, a graduate of the University of Latvia’s Faculty of Computing master’s program, currently a PhD student in Computer Science at the University of Latvia and an entrepreneur, has repeatedly provided financial support for both computer science students’ participation in international programming competitions and the Turing Award laureate seminar. The patron says about his motivation for the donation: “Participating in international programming competitions develops the ability to use a structured approach to solving non-trivial problems in order to solve them in a limited time. In a seminar with a Turing Award winner, I hope to inspire students to set ambitious goals and develop an interest in the theoretical aspects of computer science. Meeting a Turing Award winner and having a direct conversation with him can be very inspiring.”
And indeed – Robert Tarjan's seminar inspired the staff of the Department of Computer Science, students, as well as other computer science enthusiasts, who at the end of the seminar asked various questions to the Turing Award laureate, finding out which invention has changed Tarjan's life, how R. Tarjan felt when he learned that he had received the Turing Award, whether he could imagine different career, what is his favorite data structure, as well as Tarjan's opinion on current directions and methods of algorithm research, as well as the growing role of artificial intelligence in science.
Roberts Tarjans' visit in Latvia lasted a total of 5 days, during which R.Tarjan participated in seminars discussing research in computer science and physics, conducted at the University of Latvia. R.Tarjan visited the Academic Center in Torņakalns – the most modern environment of study and research in the Baltics, which provides opportunities to conduct internationally significant research. Together with representatives of the University of Latvia – Aigars Ekers, the future Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology, and Guntis Arnicāns, Acting Head of the Department of Computer Science – Robert Tarjan visited the University of Tartu (Estonia), promoting the strengthening of cooperation between the two universities.
Robert Tarjan is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University and a preeminent figure in theoretical computer science. He is renowned for his pioneering work on graph algorithms and data structures, including union-find, Fibonacci heaps, splay trees, and a linear-time algorithm for finding strongly connected components in a directed graph. Over his career, he has authored hundreds of influential papers that have shaped both theoretical and practical aspects of computer science. His work is widely cited, with around 100,000 citations, reflecting his deep and lasting impact on the field. For his fundamental contributions, he was awarded the Turing Award in 1986, among many other honors.
Donations from Wulf Harder and other patrons are administered by the UL Foundation.
